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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23517211">I'm a Punk Rock Pork Chop</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan'>ericsonclan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>OG World [26]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Concussions, F/F, F/M, Hijinks &amp; Shenanigans</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 13:47:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,288</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23517211</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Violet gets a concussion and hilarities ensue.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aasim/Ruby (Walking Dead: Done Running), Clementine/Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running), Louis &amp; Violet (Walking Dead: Done Running), Prisha/Violet (Walking Dead: Done Running)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>OG World [26]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815361</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. I'm a Punk Rock Pork Chop Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was inspired largely by quotes from Violet's voice actress, Gideon Adlon, which she made during the final season playthrough commentary on the definitive edition of the game. I wanted a way to get Violet to say all those crazy things and the best way was to give her a concussion (sorry not sorry, Violet XD)</p><p>(by Laura)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It started out like any other ordinary day. Everyone was running around doing their daily chores. Prisha and Clementine were preparing the fish they caught for dinner while Louis and Ruby organized the vegetables they’d harvested from the garden that morning. Violet was on watch duty. Omar had gone off to the pasture with A.J. to feed Molly the horse. Aasim was writing in his journal. Beside him, Willy was trying to get Garbage fitted into his latest invention.</p><p>Suddenly, they all heard a loud cracking noise and a dull thud. They looked up to see Violet sprawled out upon the ground, splintered wood scattered about her. A huge hole in the watchtower could be seen above her.</p><p>“Violet!” Prisha screamed.</p><p>Everyone rushed over in a panic. As Prisha gently guided Violet’s head to rest in her lap, the rest of the Ericson clan circled around her. Ruby pushed her way to the front, kneeling beside Prisha and Violet. Miraculously, her glasses had been undamaged by the fall, but from her dazed expression it was clear that she’d taken a hit to the head. Ruby handed the glasses to Aasim, then turned back to Violet.</p><p>“Violet, honey, can you hear me? Blink once for yes,”</p><p>Violet stared aimlessly past her, a look of confusion on her face.</p><p>Louis was wringing his hands in agony. “Vi, please, say something!”</p><p>A faint whistle left Violet’s mouth as she tried to move her lips. Everyone leaned forward, trying to hear what she was saying. Finally, her voice gained strength.</p><p>“I’m a punk rock pork chop,”</p><p>Then her voice faded back into a low gurgling moan.</p><p>They all looked at each in confusion.</p><p>“What did she just say?” Clem asked.</p><p>Aasim shrugged. “I swear it sounded like ‘I’m a punk rock pork chop’, but that can’t possibly be right,”</p><p>Prisha was cradling Violet’s face, trying to get her to look at her. “Listen to me, Violet, it’s gonna be OK! I’m right here!”</p><p>“I think she can hear ya, Sug,” Ruby said gently, placing a comforting hand on Prisha’s shoulder. “She took a pretty hard fall there, and she’s got a goose egg on her noggin’ the size of Texas, but I think she’s just dazed. Everybody just give her some space. I’m sure she’ll be just fine in a few minutes,”</p><p>The group reluctantly dispersed, watching Violet closely from a distance as she was guided to sit down at the picnic table where Prisha and Clementine were working. Prisha was utterly distraught, stroking Violet’s hair as she observed her anxiously. Louis took her place at dinner prep, picking up a knife and sitting beside Clementine.</p><p>“I can’t believe it. For the watchtower to just fall apart like that… ten years and we’ve never had a problem with it,”</p><p>Clementine shook her head. “Things wear out. None of us even considered that it might be in need of repairs. And after all that rain we’ve had in the last month, I bet the wood had soaked it all up and rotted on the inside. Looking back, I’m surprised something didn’t happen sooner,”</p><p>The four of them sat together for the next hour or so. Violet hands had been fidgeting all over the table. They couldn’t figure out what she wanted, so she was handed a potato to hold and sat there in calm silence for the rest of dinner prep while her friends watched her nervously. Once it was dinnertime and the others began gathering for dinner, Violet became a bit more animated, looking around with an inquisitive look on her face. She smiled as  A.J. took a seat beside her.</p><p>“Hey, shitbird,”</p><p>Everyone stared at her in shock. Then A.J. started giggling.</p><p>“Right back atcha, shitbird!”</p><p>“A.J.!” Clementine hissed.</p><p>“What?” A.J. shrugged. “She said it first. It’s funny,”</p><p>Violet pointed a finger over at Louis’ bowl. “Gimme,”</p><p>“OK….” Louis cautiously slid the bowl of stew over toward Violet. “Careful. It’s hot,”</p><p>“Thanks, shitbird,” Violet replied. She started to chow down as everyone stared at her in confusion.</p><p>“Violet…” Prisha placed a hand on her arm. “Are you feeling OK?”</p><p>“Mhm,” Violet nodded. She leaned over and placed a kiss on Prisha’s cheek. “Love ya, shitbird,”</p><p>Prisha was utterly baffled. “This can’t be normal! Ruby, what’s wrong with her?”</p><p>“I’m sorry, Prish, but I don’t know. Head injuries are tricky. She has all the signs of a concussion, but there’s not much we can do for that except make sure she rests and heals. Whatever sort of weird quirks she has right now are sure to pass with time,”</p><p>“How much time?”</p><p>“A few days?”</p><p>“Days?” Prisha’s voice cracked. “You’re telling me she’s going to be like this for days and there’s nothing we can do about it?”</p><p>“Hey,” Willy raised his hand. “Isn’t it true that people with concussions aren’t allowed to fall asleep, otherwise they’ll slip into a coma and die?”</p><p>Everyone at the table erupted.</p><p>“Hey, bud, let’s not get too hasty throwing out ideas like that!” Louis cautioned, waving his arms for silence. “There’s no medical evidence for that, is there, Ruby?”</p><p>Ruby paused before answering. “I’m gonna have to look into that. I think Violet should be able to hold an actual conversation before we let her sleep,”</p><p>“So you’re saying she has to stay up all night?”</p><p>“I think that’s wise until Aasim and I find evidence sayin’ otherwise. We’ll look through the medical books as soon as dinner’s done,”</p><p>---</p><p>In the end, it was decided that they should err on the side of caution and try to keep Violet awake for the night. That seemed fine with Violet, as she had no apparent desire to sleep, wandering around the school and fiddling with anything she could get her hands on. Clementine and Louis could hear her scampering through the hall as they settled down for the night, Prisha’s footsteps following quickly after hers. The sound of breaking glass and a frantic “Violet, no!” caused them to sit up straight in their beds, but a quick “Everything’s fine, no injuries!” kept them from rushing out into the hall.</p><p>“Maybe I should go out there myself and help Prisha out,” Louis mused.</p><p>Clementine shook her head. “You already offered. Prisha was pretty insistent that she’s got it handled,”</p><p>Louis looked unconvinced.</p><p>“How about this? Get a few hours of sleep. When I get up for watch I’ll wake you too and you can offer your assistance again. Maybe Prisha will be more open to taking it then,”</p><p>Louis rolled over in bed to face Clementine. “You’re not going anywhere near that watchtower, right? I swear, the second it’s light out we’re tearing that thing to the ground and burning it. We’ll build a new one from scratch,”</p><p>“Don’t worry,” Clem leaned forward to place a kiss on his nose. “I’ll sit on the wall, right where Willy is now. Not gonna take any chances,”</p><p>From the hallway, the sound of Violet making engine sounds could be clearly heard, then the quick rhythm of running feet.</p><p>“Violet, no running!” Prisha’s voice was clearly desperate.</p><p>Louis and Clementine shared a look.</p><p>“I’m gonna go ahead and ask her again if she wants help,”</p><p>“Good idea,”</p><p>With that, Louis slipped out of bed and put his coat back on before exiting the room. Clementine tucked a few spare pillows beside her.</p><p>They were all in for a long night.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. I'm a Punk Rock Pork Chop Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hijinks continue with Violet's concussion.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Willy, have you seen Violet?” Louis was struggling to catch his breath, hands on his knees and head lowered.</p><p>Willy pointed behind him. “She just asked me if I wanted to go on the merry go round with her, then ran off that way,”</p><p>Shit. Prisha had entrusted him with Violet watch enough to finally take a nap. He couldn’t screw this up now.</p><p>“C’mon! We’ve gotta make sure she doesn’t do something stupid and injure herself again!” The boys ran outside to what had once been the Ericson playground, stripped for parts now and in a dilapidated state of ruin.</p><p>Violet had plopped onto the armchair that had been chained to the merry go round years ago during a heated faux Olympics competition. She slid under the chains easily. “Buckle up!” she chirped happily.</p><p>“Violet!” Louis sprinted over to her, trying to figure out the best way to slip her out from the chains without resistance. “How about we do something else, kay? We could go to the greenhouse-” No, that was a terrible idea. She’d probably ingest something poisonous. “Oooor we could go visit Clem and A.J. and look at their collections! You love all the freaky stuff they collect, right?”</p><p>Violet stared at him for an uncomfortably long time. Would he have to repeat the offer? Then her face brightened. “Okie dokie!” She slid back out from under the chains, wiggling her hands in front of her as she stood before him. “Piggyback,”</p><p>“Piggyback? Oh, ok!” Louis turned around and Violet jumped onboard, wrapping her legs and arms around him. They set off towards the dorms, Violet making choo-choo sounds and giggling to herself along the way. This would all be adorable if there wasn’t the risk that she wouldn’t eventually return to normal.</p><p>Once they reached the room, Louis set Violet down beside him, knocking on the door while keeping Violet within his peripheral vision.</p><p>Clementine opened the door. “Hey, what’s up?”</p><p>“Hey, babe! I told Violet that I thought it would be fun if she looked at you and A.J. 's collections. Is that OK?” He flashed her his biggest smile.</p><p>“Of course. Come on in,”</p><p>Violet immediately booked it into the room, oohing and aahing as she looked at the crystal on A.J.’s desk. “Crystal. Pretty,”</p><p>Louis sighed as he took a seat beside Clementine on their bed.</p><p>“Everything going OK?” Clementine asked, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>“Well, Prisha settled down for her nap about 20 minutes ago and within 10 of those minutes I’d already lost track of Violet twice. I thought Prisha was being too strict on herself to only allow for two hours of sleep, but here I am wondering if I’ll make it that long,”</p><p>Clementine took his hand in her own. “It doesn’t have to be just you and Prisha, you know. We can all take a turn with her. Ruby said this should only last a few days at most,”</p><p>“I’m praying that’s the case,”</p><p>They looked over at Violet, who was staring up in wonder at the deer skull above the door. “God?” she whispered in a small, frightened voice.</p><p>Louis groaned as his head fell into his hands.</p><p>Clementine patted his back. “You go ahead and take a break. You and Prisha were both up all night with her. I’ll take a shift,”</p><p>“Thank you,” Louis mumbled, crawling into bed without bothering to take off his coat or boots.</p><p>Clementine put a hand on Violet’s shoulder. “Let’s head outside, OK, Vi? There’s some chores I need to get done,”</p><p>“Okie dokie!”</p><p>That was new. Clementine wondered how Violet would feel about her actions if she was witnessing all of this from the outside. She had the distinct feeling she would not be pleased.</p><p>---</p><p>Clementine kept an eye on Violet who was running around the yard with A.J., chasing him in circles. She and Aasim were talking about the trout pond they had been attempting to build unsuccessfully. They needed to find a way to make it self-sufficient if the fish were going to stay alive in there. It wasn’t an easy task.</p><p>When Clementine glanced up again, her heart sank as she realized she couldn’t see Violet.</p><p>“A.J.! Where’s Violet?”</p><p>“She said she wanted to go to her room to get something,”</p><p>Shit. Prisha was sleeping in there. If Violet wandered in there unsupervised and woke her up, Prisha wouldn’t allow herself to sleep again until Violet returned to normal, whenever that would be. She turned to Aasim. “Take A.J. and the others and spread out. We can’t let her get to the room!”</p><p>They all ran off in opposite directions, frantically searching for Violet.</p><p>She wasn’t in the room when Clementine checked. Clem sped through the halls of the school, desperately looking in every nook and cranny. No wonder Louis had been at his wit’s end. Vi was elusive enough without a concussion adding total randomness to her methods. Finally after several minutes of desperate searching, Clementine found Violet crouched over a bucket of rainwater by one of the outside walkways.</p><p>“Vi, thank God! Are you OK?” She rushed to stand beside her.</p><p>Violet didn’t look up from her perusal of the bucket. She seemed entranced by the water. She poked at the surface of the water with one finger then watched the ripples still. “Violet’s hot,”</p><p>“OK… do you mean hot like temperature-wise or hot like…”</p><p>Suddenly Violet dunked her entire head in the bucket.</p><p>Clementine screamed, rushing to pull her out.</p><p>As soon as Violet’s head emerged, she threw it back dramatically, sweeping her hair back across the top of her head. “Hot,”</p><p>Clementine still wasn’t sure what meaning Violet had been going for. Either way, one thing was for sure: she was not under any circumstances to be allowed near any sort of body of water until this whole concussion nonsense had sorted itself out. Clementine took Violet’s hand in her own, standing up once more. “Let’s go tell the others you’re safe so they stop worrying,”</p><p>“Okie dokie!”</p><p>God, she couldn’t wait for this to be over. From the look of things though, Violet wasn’t any closer to getting better. All they could do was wait and pray that they could all hold out long enough to see this madness through.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. I'm a Punk Rock Pork Chop Part 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Ericson kids are frazzled with no end in sight.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It hadn’t been for very long, but for a good three hours Violet had slept in Prisha’s arms while her girlfriend lovingly stroked her hair before passing out of exhaustion herself. Omar had been on watch duty in case Violet woke up before Prisha which she inevitably did. He then stuck with Violet for the rest of the night while she roamed the hallways like some sort of feral cat, knocking over everything in sight and sprinting away in fear whenever any sort of noise startled her. By the time dawn had arrived, Omar was wiped out and handed off the reins to Aasim and Ruby. They were on Violet duty for the day.</p><p>“Now let’s sit you down right here, Violet, OK?” Ruby said as she gently led her friend to one of the picnic tables. “A.J. was real generous and said you could play with all of his Disco Broccoli toys as long as you were careful with them,”</p><p>“Whaaaaaaaat,” Violet gasped, her mouth open in awe. She grabbed Beet Nick out of Ruby’s hands, staring at him intently. Her eyes teared up as she held him beside her face, looking at Ruby. “He’s so beautiful,”</p><p>“I know, hun,” Ruby laid the rest of the toys on the table before taking a seat beside her. Aasim sat down opposite her and the two of them began working to repair some of the worn-out pieces of clothing they had collected from the others, stitching up holes and adding patches where needed. It was actually pleasantly calm for a little while as the two of them sewed in silence as Violet played with Disco Broccoli and his Chive Talkin’ Friends.</p><p>Something suddenly distracted Violet though, as she gasped and ran over towards the gate. Aasim and Ruby were after her in a flash. Luckily, Violet didn’t seem interested in opening the gate. Instead she stared in fascination at the ravens which had gathered to feast on a nearby walker corpse.</p><p>Aasim put a hand on her shoulder, hoping to direct Violet back to the table. “Vi, you want to come back and play with Disco Broccoli some more?”</p><p>His words didn’t seem to be getting through to her. “If I got bit, bye bye!” Violet stuck a hand through the bars, waving gently at the birds.</p><p>Ruby tsked. “Don’t talk like that, Violet! Neither Aasim or I will let anything bad happen to you, y’hear?”</p><p>Violet nodded absent-mindedly, then began running in the opposite direction toward the school. She really was a fast one. Before Aasim and Ruby could catch up, she had disappeared inside the admin building. Luckily there weren’t too many directions she could go in there. They’d been right behind her, so she wouldn’t have had time to climb the staircase. That only left the music room. As they approached it, they could hear the piano playing.</p><p>Once they entered, they saw that Violet was sitting beside Louis at the piano bench, entranced by the song he was playing. Louis effortlessly transitioned into a softer song, a lullaby. His eyes met Ruby’s and Aasim’s for a second to let them know that he had things covered. They watched the pair for a minute as Violet’s head began to droop, eventually falling onto Louis’ shoulder as he continued to play. They left the room as silently as possible, the sounds of the piano drifting behind them.</p><p>---</p><p>Later in the day, Violet was outside once more with Prisha at her side. The naps had served both of them well. Violet certainly wasn’t back to herself, but she seemed calmer, observing the world around her with a quiet acceptance. Clementine was on watch while Omar was busy with the regular dinner preparations. It almost felt like a normal day. In the distance, they heard a whistle as A.J. and Willy returned from fishing, Rosie in tow. Rosie had something in her mouth that she was chewing on happily. Once she was within eyesight, the others were shocked to see that it was a walker head, clearly dead for quite some time.</p><p>“Rosie, no!” Prisha scolded as the dog trotted in with her prize. “You go back out and you drop that!”</p><p>Rosie seemed rather alarmed at the scolding, but dutifully stepped back outside, dropping the head before walking back inside.</p><p>“The head juice,” Violet murmured.</p><p>“What was that?”</p><p>Violet pointed at Rosie’s bloody maw. “The head juice. Why does she get it? No fair,”</p><p>“Vi, you’re not saying you want to drink blood, are you?”</p><p>Violet’s tongue darted out, swirling along her upper lip. “Tastes like chicken,”</p><p>Prisha looked at her girlfriend in bewilderment. Before she could answer, Omar announced that dinner was ready.</p><p>“Okie dokie!” Violet chirped, swinging her arms as she strode on over to the ladder they were using in temporary replacement of the old watchtower. She raised her arms above her. “Clem, jump. I’ll catch you on the way down,”</p><p>“Ummm, that’s OK, Vi. I think I’ve got it,”</p><p>Violet’s arms remained raised. “Accept my love,”</p><p>“I really appreciate it, but I’m just gonna climb down myself,”</p><p>Prisha took Violet’s hand in her own. “How about we head over to dinner. You hungry?”</p><p>Violet shrugged. “Okie dokie,” She slipped her hand out of Prisha’s, power walking over to the table.</p><p>Clem caught Prisha’s disheartened look. “She’s gonna be OK. These things take time,”</p><p>“I know. I just miss her,”</p><p>---</p><p>The group sat around in silence, watching Violet happily chase fireflies with A.J. and Willy. They were all exhausted. It had looked like dinner would go off without a hitch when all of a sudden Violet had looked over at the cooking fire, and declared, “That fire looks so realistic,” and begun walking toward the flames. It had taken Louis, Aasim and Omar to restrain her until she became distracted by Willy’s suggestion that they should try to catch some fireflies.  She was surprisingly strong for being such a scrawny little thing. Now she was running with one of their mason jars whispering “Schwing! Schwing!” as she spun around, trying to capture the shining lights around her.</p><p>Louis shook his head. “Maybe I shouldn’t have played that lullaby for her. How are we going to get her to bed now?”</p><p>Clementine shrugged. “Would we have been able to set a bedtime either way?”</p><p>Ruby was watching Violet with a worried expression. “All the textbooks say her symptoms should go away within 7-10 days. Still, they should be decreasing before then,”</p><p>Prisha’s head was on the table, her arm crossed underneath. “I swear to God, if Violet isn’t better within that timeframe…”</p><p>“She will be!” Louis’ tone was determined. “Violet’s tough. She’ll bounce back from this,”</p><p>Aasim cleared his throat. “You know, sometimes symptoms can extend longer than the usual ten days. 3 months, sometimes even a year,”</p><p>Everyone glared at him.</p><p>“I’m just saying,” Aasim said defensively, “That we have to remain cautious. Prepare for the long term,”</p><p>Omar looked unimpressed. “If it takes that long, we’ll all go insane,”</p><p>They quieted as Violet ran up to the table, holding a jar with three fireflies in it, her face aglow. “Look, guys!” She held forward the jar proudly.</p><p>Everyone gave their congratulations.</p><p>Violet set the jar down on the table and turned to Prisha. “Play with me?”</p><p>Prisha’s eyes softened. “Of course,”</p><p>Violet excitedly grabbed her girlfriend’s hand, running over to the swing. She hopped inside, urging Prisha to push her super high. Everyone at the table watched the pair playing, their hearts softening at the sight. Even in the waning light, they could catch the smile that was forming on Prisha’s face as Violet laughed in delight, kicking her legs in an effort to go higher.</p><p>“It’s almost like she’s a kid again,” Louis murmured. “That’s not totally a bad thing. Not like she ever got many chances at that to begin with,”</p><p>“Let’s give her that then,” Clementine suggested. “For as long as this concussion lasts, let’s give Violet all the happiness we can. Let her enjoy this time,”</p><p>“She probably won’t remember any of this once she breaks out of it,” Aasim countered, earning himself a sharp jab in the ribs from Ruby.</p><p>“It’s a sweet thought, Clem. I reckon it won’t do her no harm. Might even do some good,”</p><p>Louis put his hand in the center of the table. “To giving Violet the best concussion week ever?”</p><p>The others placed their hands on top of his.</p><p>“Deal,”</p><p>“Deal,”</p><p>“Deal,”</p><p>Aasim rolled his eyes. “Fine, ok. Deal,”</p><p>It wasn’t much, finding the joy amidst the accident was something they all needed. They would keep Violet happy and safe, whatever it took.</p><p>That was what friends were for.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. I'm a Punk Rock Pork Chop Part 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Yay, Violet's back! :D</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Violet woke up slowly, the warmth of a bed and the comfort of an arm draped over her holding her captive in drowsy bliss. When she finally did wake up, her eyes blinked lazily, taking in the room around her. What was she doing in here? Hadn’t she just been on watch duty? She shifted around. Prisha was dozing peacefully beside her. How was this possible? Had she somehow lost her memory of the entire day? She wanted to get up and investigate, but she couldn’t risk waking Prisha up. Resting her head upon the pillow, Violet watched her girlfriend sleep, finding the rhythmic rise and fall of each breath comforting.</p><p>She wasn’t sure how much time passed before Prisha stirred. Violet eased back, giving her space to stretch and fully wake up. Prisha looked over at her with a tired, somewhat sad smile.</p><p>“Morning. Sleep well?”</p><p>Violet simply nodded. Prisha leaned forward, reaching beyond Violet. Violet turned to see what she was grabbing. Why were all of A.J.’s Disco Broccoli toys in here? Prisha pulled back, holding a toy cauliflower in her hands. “Want to play again?” Her voice took on a sultry tone. “Wowee, Disco Broccoli! I must not be the first woman to tell you how a-peel-ing I find you,”</p><p>“Prisha, what the fuck are you doing?”</p><p>Prisha blinked slowly, looking confused. Then her eyes widened. “Oh my god. Violet, are you back?”</p><p>“Back from what? What’s going on?”</p><p>Prisha let out a squeal of joy, wrapping Violet in a tight hug. “It finally happened! Oh, thank goodness! I thought, I thought…” She pulled away for a second to wipe at her eyes. “I’ve just been so worried,”</p><p>Violet reached up, awkwardly brushing a tear off Prisha’s cheek. Where was all this emotion coming from?</p><p>Prisha examined her curiously. “You have no memory of it all, do you? Ruby said this might happen,”</p><p>“What exactly am I supposed to be remembering?”</p><p>“You took a hard fall about a week ago. The wood floor of the watchtower was rotten and gave out under you. You hit your head when you reached the ground, and, well… you haven’t exactly been yourself these past few days,”</p><p>“What is that supposed to mean?”</p><p>A knock on the door caught both of their attention. Louis let himself in. “Oh good, you’re both up. Listen, I can take morning shift with Violet. Clem wants to go hunting with you today,” He looked at Violet and leaned forward, his hands on his knees. “You ready to play, Vi? A.J.’s got the beach ball ready. We’re going to play catch all day,”</p><p>Violet wrinkled her nose in disgust. “What the fuck’s with the baby voice?”</p><p>Louis’ eyes widened in alarm. He turned to Prisha. “She’s better!”</p><p>Prisha nodded happily. “I know! I just found out myself!”</p><p>“What do you mean ‘better’?” Violet snapped. “What was even wrong with me?”</p><p>“You don’t remember anything?” Louis’ expression was incredulous.</p><p>“The last thing I remember is taking watch duty last night. But apparently what I’m remembering is not last night after all. How long have I been acting weird?”</p><p>Louis shrugged. “Honestly, after a while the days all started to blend together. I mean the first day there was the injury, then the next day you dunked your head in that bucket of water, then the day after that was when you told Prisha you wondered what walkers taste like…”</p><p>“I said what?”</p><p>“You were jealous of Rosie,” Prisha answered. “Jealous that she got to chew on walker heads and you couldn’t. You called it… ‘head juice’,”</p><p>“You are definitely making that up,”</p><p>“Have I ever lied to you?”</p><p>She hadn’t.</p><p>Violet grabbed Prisha’s hand in her own. “Tell me everything that I said or did since I fell down,”</p><p>Prisha and Louis shared a worried look. “It’s a lot,” Prisha murmured.</p><p>“Try me,”</p><p>---</p><p>“Violet! Ready to play?” A.J. ran over to her in excitement, throwing the ball without warning. It bounced off her head and was caught by Prisha. A.J. stopped in front of them. “Your turn, shitbird!”</p><p>Violet looked at Prisha questioningly.</p><p>“You may have called everybody shitbird for the last few days,”</p><p>“You’ve got to be kidding me,”</p><p>A.J. was looking at her expectantly. “C’mon, Violet! Now’s the part where you say-” His voice took on a high tone, “Okie dokie!”</p><p>Violet turned to Prisha again.</p><p>She was biting her bottom lip. “You did say that quite a bit too,”</p><p>“What the fuck was wrong with me?!”</p><p>“Hey,” A.J. said, his brow furrowed in concentration. “You’re not acting weird anymore. Are you back to normal?”</p><p>“That’s right, kiddo. No more ‘shitbirds’ or ‘okiedokies’ from me,”</p><p>A.J.’s face fell in disappointment, but suddenly brightened. “That means I can charge you when you say swears again! You owe me one favor now!”</p><p>Clem’s voice could be heard calling A.J. in the distance.</p><p>A.J. spun around, running off in Clem’s direction. “I’ll figure out what the favor is later! Bye, Violet!”</p><p>Violet was left with Prisha, standing utterly still as her brain tried to catch up with everything that had just happened.</p><p>“You OK?”</p><p>“I thought you told me every weird thing I did,”</p><p>“I tried to, but like I said, there was a lot. You weren’t always with me either; we went in shifts. To find out everything you did, well… you’re going to have to talk to everyone,”</p><p>She would rather die.</p><p>---</p><p>It was a long day for Violet, each interaction bringing new humiliating experiences to light that she had absolutely no memory of. How had concussion Violet had so much energy? Every time someone said that they’d run out of stories, that they’d covered every ridiculous thing she had done, they would turn around a minute later with yet another story of the crazy shit she’d gotten up to. By the time evening rolled around, Violet was exhausted. She placed her head on the table with a long groan. She could feel Prisha patting her back.</p><p>“Everything OK? I know it’s a lot to take in,” Prisha had been by her side every second of the day. Violet wasn’t sure to feel comforted or humiliated by her presence as they were regaled with stories of all her crazy mishaps. Prisha had seen most of the hijinks go down in person, but that wasn’t really comforting. If anything it made Violet want to sink even farther into the ground with each passing second.</p><p>“I’m never going to live this down, am I? This is who I am now: just a walking joke,”</p><p>“No!” Prisha insisted, rubbing her back more quickly. “That’s not what we think at all! We’re just all happy to have you back. We were worried you’d be stuck like that,”</p><p>Violet snorted. “Willy would have loved that. According to him, concussion Violet was ‘totally awesome’. Even Ruby was laughing when she told us the stories of what I did! She said I was ‘a real hoot’!”</p><p>Prisha sighed. “Maybe in retrospect things are a little funny. But I swear we were worried. Having you back to normal is the best thing any of us could ever ask for,”</p><p>Violet turned her head to the side, eyeing her girlfriend. “Did I really say ‘Love you, shitbird’ to you and then kiss you?”</p><p>A small smile tugged at the corners of Prisha’s mouth. “You did,” She raised a finger in protest. “Now that sounds funny, but at the time it was utterly terrifying,”</p><p>Violet looked at Prisha. Her eyes were so sincere. She had called this girl shitbird. She had kissed Prisha, the most dignified person she knew, and called her shitbird. A snicker escaped Violet’s lips.</p><p>“What?” Prisha asked in concern.</p><p>Her poor, long-suffering girlfriend. Violet’s laughter increased.</p><p>Prisha started giggling too. “Oh, so now you think it’s funny?”</p><p>“You found it terrifying? Really?”</p><p>“I did! You should have seen my face! Ruby can confirm it!”</p><p>“Oh my god, I wish there was footage of that moment!”</p><p>The two girls shared a laugh together, settling from outright chuckles into happy giggled sighs.</p><p>Violet sat back up. Her glasses lay on the table before them, returned to her now that she could be trusted not to break them. She slipped them on, looking at the world around her. Louis and Clementine had returned from hunting and were descaling the fish at one of the other picnic tables. Willy was talking excitedly to Ruby about something or other as she carried a load of laundry <br/>out of the dorms. Aasim was chronicling the day’s events in his journal. Everything was back to normal.</p><p>“What are you thinking about?” Prisha asked curiously.</p><p>Violet shrugged. “It’s not like I was aware of it while it happened, but after hearing about everything that went down these past few days… it feels good to be back. To be home,”</p><p>Prisha’s eyes crinkled as she smiled. “Welcome home, Violet. We truly missed you,”</p><p>“I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me for the long haul,”</p><p>Prisha rested her head on top of Violet’s, nestling close. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,”</p>
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